SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Maria Prensa was packing her belongings as the Caribbean Fantasy ferry prepared to dock in Puerto Rico after a calm, overnight trip from the Dominican Republic.

Suddenly, she smelled smoke. “I asked, and they told me it was nothing, that it was under control,” the 64-year-old Dominican said.

An hour later, she found herself tumbling down an emergency slide with helicopters whirring overhead, one of more than 500 passengers and crew members who had to abandon the burning ship Wednesday about a mile off Puerto Rico’s north coast. U.S. Coast Guard boats carried them into San Juan’s harbour with help from other agencies and even private vessels.

“It was like something out of a movie,” Prensa said on shore, wiping away tears. “You’re in the middle of the ocean and there’s a fire. Imagine that.”

The fire erupted in the engine room, and it apparently had been burning for some time before the alarm was sounded.

Gyno Funes said he and another mechanic were in the control room when a hose carrying fuel burst and caught fire.

“We were trying to extinguish it for two hours, but couldn’t,” the other mechanic, Marlon Doblado, told The Associated Press.

Passengers told of leaving breakfasts half-eaten and abandoning luggage when the alarm went off.

The mostly Dominican passengers included dozens of school-age athletes headed to competitions in Puerto Rico, including a cycling team, a girls’ volleyball team and a boys’ baseball team. Among them was Soribel Soto’s son, who was dressed in his team uniform like the other athletes.

Several people panicked, Soto said.

“Some of them passed out,” she recalled as she and other passengers sat barefoot near the San Juan harbour waiting for a bus to take them to the ship’s original destination. Nearby, several dogs sat patiently in cages waiting to be reunited with their owners.

Carlos Giusti / APA woman is helped off a boat after she was rescued from the cruise ship Caribbean Fantasy, at Dock 6 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016.

Dozens of people were strapped onto gurneys and taken to a triage area or nearby hospitals to be treated for heat stroke, shock and dehydration. Among them was a man hooked to an IV line who was cradling a bawling baby clad only in a diaper.

More than 100 people were treated at the scene and 24 were hospitalized. Among the latter were three women who dislocated their ankles and a man who broke his leg while going down the emergency slide.

None of the injuries were life-threatening and everyone was expected to recover, said Angel Crespo, director of Puerto Rico’s Emergency Management Agency.

The Coast Guard said it had begun an investigation into what caused the fire.

Officials with American Cruise Ferries, which operates the Panamanian-flagged ship built in 1989, did not return messages for comment. The ferry travels several times weekly between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.

A ProPublica investigation found that the Coast Guard had discovered 107 deficiencies during 61 inspections of the ship since 2010. The most recent checks found no major faults, but a January 2015 inspection stated that oil fuel lines should be screened or protected in some way to avoid any spray or leakage onto ignition sources.

It was unclear what would happen to the ship, which was grounded offshore.

Officials with Puerto Rico’s Natural Resources Department said that as a precaution, they removed two large manatees from the area that had been recently released into the wild. They also expressed concern about dozens of nearby turtle nests that might be exposed to any oil spills.

All passengers had arrived in the San Juan harbour by afternoon.

Blas Martinez, from the Dominican Republic, said he was grateful he was already on deck when the ship’s alarm went off: “They told us, ‘Evacuate because there’s a fire that we cannot control.'”

RIO DE JANEIRO — The purple-orange sky over Centre Court provided a backdrop of magical beauty, an appropriate setting for the history Monica Puig intended to make. Angelique Kerber stood across the net, and Puig’s other opponent — the past — tinged the women’s gold medal final with her small island’s convoluted Olympic saga.

A Puerto Rican had won gold before, but never had an athlete representing the island, a territory of the United States, climbed to the top of the podium and listened to the anthem, “La Borinqueña.” No fewer than 18 Puerto Rican flags populated the stands Saturday evening, and the people waving them hollered, over and over in unison, “Si se puede!” All match, Puig repeated it back to herself: “Yes, I can.”

Jonathan Newton / The Washington PostPuig on the podium Saturday.

As the sun set and Puig chipped away, the chants rang out across Olympic Park until, yes, she did. Puig toppled Kerber, a German ranked second in the world, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1. She rode pulverizing groundstrokes to a personal breakthrough and a territorial milestone. Puig already had become the first woman representing Puerto Rico to clinch a medal. Now she had become the first, after 17 Summer Olympics, to win gold for Puerto Rico.

“It’s just amazing,” Puig said. “I know my country really appreciates this, and I really wanted to give this to them. The way that I did it tonight, I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.”

When Puig watched Kerber’s final shot sail wide, Puig tossed her racket, raised both arms and smiled. After she shook hands, she paced several steps with her hands on her head and collapsed to her knees, covering her face and shaking from sobs. She stood, blew a kiss to the crowd and grabbed a one-starred Puerto Rican flag. She shook it with both hands, alternating between smiles and tears.

Puig, 22, lives in South Florida and trains at the IMG Academy in Boca Raton. Some family members still live in Puerto Rico — “my roots,” she said — and she visits them often.

“It’s my favourite place to go,” Puig said. “That island has given me so much love and support.”

Ranked 34th in the world entering the tournament, Puig has never advanced to the quarterfinals of a major and has not reached the round of 16 in one since 2013. An anticipated star as a teen, Puig’s breakout came later than expected, but at a perfect moment for a territory in need of joy.

Puerto Rico owes $70 billion in debt it cannot afford to pay back. Its population has shrunk by nine percent, to 3.5 million people, since 2005. Hundreds of doctors have fled to the United States for higher pay, leaving Puerto Rico’s health-care system facing potential crisis. Saturday morning, the U.S. declared a state of emergency in Puerto Rico owing to a Zika virus epidemic.

On Saturday morning, a photo of Puig pumping her fist appeared on the front page of El Nueva Dia, Puerto Rico’s largest newspaper, under the headline “Por El Oro y La Gloria” — For Gold and Glory.

Puig blitzed Kerber in the last set, smashing forehands, backing her up and not letting her settle. She turned a taut match into a coronation, an unprecedented celebration Puerto Ricans had yearned for since before she was born.

Puig’s historic and improbable run, along with an ill-advised tweet, dredged up Puerto Rico’s complex Olympic past of tangled national identity.

Related

In 1992, Fernandez had established herself as the best tennis player in Puerto Rican history and the top doubles player in the world. She saw a clear path to win a gold medal in Barcelona, but it included a thorny choice. Puerto Ricans can choose to qualify for the Games representing either Puerto Rico or the United States. She could not find a Puerto Rican doubles partner capable of qualifying for the Olympics, and she believed she would be beaten early in the singles tournament.

Puerto Rico offered Fernandez the chance to carry its flag at the Barcelona Olympics. Fernandez instead chose to represent the U.S. She teamed with Mary Jo Fernandez, a Dominican-born American, and the tandem won gold. “The Star-Spangled Banner” played while Fernandez and Fernandez stood atop the medal stand, just as it did four years later, when they won again in Atlanta. The decision devastated Puerto Ricans and remains sensitive.

“According to the naysayers, I chose personal gain or my career or to win a gold medal over my country,” Fernandez said. “I don’t see it that way. I’m Puerto Rican at heart. My friends call me the crazy Puerto Rican girl. I still feel at home when I go to Puerto Rico. I felt it was the right thing to do. I felt like winning the gold medal really furthered my career. Again, I would make the same decision at that time in my life. Looking back, I wish I wasn’t going through what I’m going through this week. Twenty-five years later, and people have a grudge.”

Grant Halverson / Getty ImagesGigi Fernandez shows her Olympic gold medals as she meets with young Hispanic fans during a clinic in Atlanta on Aug. 2.

Fernandez acknowledged she had brought some of the recent vitriol on herself. During the Opening Ceremonies, Fernandez watched Jaime Espinal, the Dominican-born wrestler who won silver for Puerto Rico in 2012, carry the Puerto Rican flag.

“When I saw that, I just had all these emotions,” Fernandez said. “So that’s OK? It’s OK for a Dominican to carry our flag, but it’s not OK for me, a Puerto Rican, to win a gold medal for the United States as a Puerto Rican?”

Fernandez made the worst mistake an emotional person with a controversial past can make in 2016: She tweeted. Including a picture of Espinal carrying the flag, Fernandez wrote, “Is he Dominican or Puerto Rican?” in Spanish, followed by, “Double standard” in English. The message enraged Puerto Ricans, especially those who have not forgiven her for Barcelona.

“This is a really tough decision for me,” Fernandez said. “I really struggled with it. I probably to the day I die will never live it down. I’ve been called a traitor. I received a message on Twitter that I should go to hell. That I should die.

“I’ve been embroiled in this controversy this whole week. It’s been a very tough week for me.”

Jonathan Newton / The Washington PostPuig hits a backhand in her match against Kerber.

Puig’s success has kept alive the controversy but also delighted Fernandez. She roots for Puig and offers unconditional support. They met when Puig was 10, and Fernandez became an inspiration, a trailblazer for Latin American women in sports. Fernandez has been texting Puig congratulations and informal advice throughout the Olympics.

“One of the things people ask me is, which would you rather hear?” Fernandez said Saturday morning. “It’s such a dumb question, really. I grew up with ‘La Borinqueña.’ I could sing it. I knew every word. I could belt it. I had to learn the words to the U.S. national anthem. Which one do you think has more emotion? They both have emotion. That’s what is really difficult about Puerto Ricans. We are Puerto Rican, but we are U.S. citizens.”

Night had fallen and the sky had turned dark by the time Puig won. For the second time, a Puerto Rican climbed to the top of an Olympic podium. For the first time, the Puerto Rico flag was raised highest and “La Borinqueña” played at an Olympic venue. Monica Puig had memorized the words, but she was crying too much to sing, so she could only hear them coming from the crowd.

A cargo ship captain who worked for the company that owned the doomed freighter El Faro testified Tuesday that he was fired after reporting safety concerns about his ship.

Capt. Jack Hearn, who sailed for a Tote Services Inc. subsidiary, testified before a U.S. Coast Guard panel in Jacksonville that is investigating the 41-year-old El Faro’s sinking in a hurricane last October.

The Marine Board of Investigation is seeking information about the vessel’s stability and whether there were mistakes in weather forecasting or cargo loading before the ship’s final voyage. Key questions also remain about routing decisions made by its captain.

On and before Oct. 1, as El Faro Capt. Michael Davidson was returning to Jacksonville from Puerto Rico, he indicated to colleagues that he thought he could sail south of the storm. Instead, the ship lost propulsion and got stuck in Hurricane Joaquin, eventually going down in 15,000 feet of water. There were no survivors.

Related

Hearn, who sailed the El Faro’s sister ship, the El Morro, said that after he raised concerns about holes in his own ship, Tote reluctantly reported them to the Coast Guard — but only after he took a trip without the needed repairs.

“The port engineer did not report (the holes) to the Coast Guard. I was disappointed,” he said. Back ashore, the holes were reported and addressed eventually, he said.

He said his relationship with the port engineers became strained after the incident.

Weeks later, Hearn said, a Tote official came onboard and asked him to resign and get help finding a new job, or be fired.

Eventually, Hearn said, he asked the company to investigate the matter. He said he was fired before entering into arbitration with Tote.

Previous testimony revealed that parts of the boilers on the 790-foot El Faro had deteriorated severely and needed to be replaced, yet Tote’s engineers believed it was still safe enough to sail. Those parts were set to be replaced in November, and the ship’s October voyage was scheduled to be its last before being replaced by a newer vessel on the Puerto Rico run.

National Transportation Safety Board via APThis undated image made from a video and released Tuesday, April 26, 2016, by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board shows the stern of the sunken ship El Faro. The NTSB announced that the data recorder was located northeast of Acklins and Crooked Islands, Bahamas.

The condition of the El Faro, along with Davidson’s access to weather information, have been themes throughout the investigative hearings.

Franklin said Joaquin was initially forecast as a “relatively weak system” that would head west-northwest and dissipate in the days when the El Faro was sailing between Jacksonville and Puerto Rico. Instead, Joaquin moved south-southwest and strengthened into a strong hurricane and was 536 miles off its predicted initial track.

AFP PHOTO / HANDOUT / TOTE MARITIMEThis handout file photo provided by TOTE Maritime shows the container ship El Faro. The US navy has found wreckage it believes to be from the doomed freighter El Faro which sank during Hurricane Joaquin a month ago, the National Transportation Safety Board said October 31, 2015.

Davidson was aware of the storm, according to emails and texts he sent colleagues. He emailed Tote officials the day before the ship sank advising that he may take a slower, safer route. He was given the OK by a Tote manager, but the ship never made it.

Tote’s attorneys at the hearing did not address Hearn’s testimony.

But William Bennett, an attorney for Davidson’s widow, read from a letter from U.S. Customs and Border Protection accusing the El Morro and its crew of smuggling cocaine. It was not clear how the letter was relevant to the El Faro.

Hearn confirmed knowledge of the letter but didn’t offer further comment on the incident. The Coast Guard refused to release the letter to AP, saying it would be available after the panel’s investigation is complete.

Lin-Manuel Miranda made a musical appearance on this weekend’s episode of Last Week Tonight, taking the stage to rap to U.S. officials to grant Puerto Rico economic relief by allowing its government to restructure its debt.

Why? Because John Oliver lead an entirely Puerto Rico-themed episode, blaming the American government for its current financial state.

The U.S. territory is in the midst of a massive financial crisis, and is nearly $70 billion in debt, with a poverty rate of 45 per cent.

“Puerto Rico is like the last Tower Records: everything’s overpriced, everyone’s being laid off, and there is still a really weird number of Ricky Martin CDs,” said Oliver.

“If you are massively in debt and can’t declare bankruptcy, you are stuck,” Oliver said.

3.5 million Americans need relief from debt, reported Oliver, adding, “We have to start treating (Puerto Rico) like an island of American citizens whose fate is interwoven with ours.”

Miranda, who was born to Puerto Rican parents in New York City, penned a New York Times op-ed several weeks ago, in which he called for “an act of Congress in support of restructuring (that) would help bring creditors to the table to develop a workable plan that could satisfy debt holders and relieve the punishment of the people of Puerto Rico.”

AGUADILLA, Puerto Rico — David Thompson felt the smack of a wave and found himself hanging by a tether off the back of his sailboat in the Atlantic Ocean, the northern coast of Puerto Rico off in the distance.

No problem, Thompson thought. He was still tied to his boat, wearing his life jacket. All he had to do was hoist himself back on to his boat.

But conditions were rough: 20-knot winds and 10-foot swells. As he climbed back on board, another wave tossed him off. Then the surging water stripped away his life jacket, which had linked him to the boat, and he watched as the boat moved farther away by the second.

(Donna Thompson via AP) In this March 6, 2015, photo provided by Donna Thompson, shows her husband David Thompson at Virgen Gorda, British Virgin Islands. David Thompson, a retired engineer from Kalamazoo, Michigan, managed to swim seven hours through rough water to reach land in Puerto Rico after being tossed overboard on Sunday, March 13, 2016, from his sailboat en route to South Florida.

“My arms were so tired, I couldn’t grab ahold of anything anymore,” the 68-year-old said Wednesday from a hospital in Puerto Rico, where he is recovering from his ordeal. “So I was watching my boat sail away. I was thinking that was it.”

Yet he kept himself going. He swam and floated on his back and swam — on and on for seven hours, finally crawling onto a Puerto Rico beach after dark, half naked and exhausted.

Thompson, a retired engineer from Kalamazoo, Michigan, who was sailing solo when he went overboard, is being treated for dehydration and expects to be hospitalized for at least four days.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Thompson said he had been with his wife, Donna, in St. Maarten. She flew home and he was taking their 49-foot boat, the Enthalpy II, to South Florida. It was about 1 p.m. Sunday when he was knocked overboard.

He recalled that the wave that took his life jacket also stripped off his clothes except for his shirt, leaving him almost naked as he floated in the water and considered his options.

Thompson made his way toward land, about 4 miles (6.4 kilometres) away. He alternated between floating and swimming, thinking about his 2 1/2-year-old granddaughter to keep himself going.

“I wanted to see her and hug her again. And I have a wife and a nice life. I didn’t want to die.”

Thompson kept swimming. A sharp reef cut into his legs as he scrambled onto land. Aware that he was naked, Thompson took off his shirt, stepped into the arm holes to fashioned makeshift shorts before looking for help. He knocked on the door of several homes and called out for help, but none came.

“When they saw me, I was walking like I was drunk because I didn’t have any strength left in my legs,” which were bleeding. “I didn’t look like someone you wanted to invite to dinner.”

That man ate so much rice and beans that it seemed like he had not eaten for three days.

Finally, he arrived at Villas del Mar Hau, a seaside hotel in the north coastal town of Isabela. He stumbled into the restaurant and asked waiters for help. They gave him food, water and clothes that a previous guest had left behind.

“That man ate so much rice and beans that it seemed like he had not eaten for three days,” said Sandra Villanueva, the hotel owner’s assistant. “I truly admire him. He was so beat up. He had lost all his clothes. His head, his hands, his feet were all beat up.”

The hotel called police and the U.S. Coast Guard, and Thompson was taken to the nearby hospital in Aguadilla. Officials at the private hospital would not allow an AP journalist inside, but Thompson said by phone that he was awaiting dialysis to get rid of the tremendous amount of protein built up in his body. He was too weak to hold a cup of coffee.

(AP Photo/Danica Coto) Montones Beach in Isabela, Puerto Rico, where David Thompson, a retired engineer from Kalamazoo, Michigan, managed to swim after being thrown from his boat, is shown on Wednesday, March 16, 2014. Thompson managed to swim seven hours through rough water to reach land in Montones Beach after being tossed overboard on Sunday, March 13, 2016, from his sailboat en route to South Florida. He is being treated for dehydration and is expected to be hospitalized for at least four days.

His wife said in a phone interview from Michigan that she was not surprised her husband survived.

“He is stubborn. He is determined. He is like one of the strongest people I’ve ever known. Once he sets his mind to something, you are not going to change him, which can be aggravating from a wife’s point of view,” she said with a laugh.

The Thompsons had planned to vacation in the Florida Keys or possibly the Bahamas next year in their sailboat, which the U.S. Coast Guard recovered, but those plans are on hold.

“Knowing that your husband is on a boat by himself, and getting a call from the Coast Guard is the worst call you can get,” she said, choking up. “The fact that the boat came through and that he was able to come through, it’s a miracle.”

CULEBRA, Puerto Rico — The 4-foot-tall yellow sign on the chain-link gate didn’t just say “Danger: No trespassing” in block letters. It also had a black-and-red image of a bomb and the warning “Explosives — unexploded ordnance” in English and Spanish. Nevertheless, I squeezed though the gate’s opening. My husband, Andrew, followed me down the path to Carlos Rosario Beach.

We didn’t necessarily need to take such measures to find solitude on Culebra, part of a 23-island archipelago off the eastern coast of Puerto Rico. About a quarter of the archipelago is a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-administered national wildlife refuge. Until the mid-1970s, the U.S. military used some of the islands for gunnery and bombing practice. Today, most of Culebra’s refuge areas are off-limits because of their delicate ecosystems — or unexploded ordnance.

Beautiful and relatively undeveloped, the island provided a welcome respite from crowded Washington for a long weekend. And because we were willing to take the trails less travelled (we checked with a park ranger before ducking past that warning sign), we were able to go from one serene setting to another, achieving an almost completely disconnected experience.

The Washington PostMap locates Culebra in Puerto Rico.

Two days earlier, Andrew and I had left San Juan for Culebra on an eight-seater plane. As we bobbed up and down on the bumpy 35-minute flight, I watched mainland Puerto Rico’s suburbs disappear and our shadow glide over islets 2,500 feet below.

We’d rented a one-bedroom hilltop home in southwestern Culebra, attracted by the property listing noting that the villa was entirely off-grid. Indeed it was: Three tanks collected rainwater, and solar panels provided electricity. Because we had only sporadic mobile access, I abandoned my phone in a drawer.

We accessed our little villa by a driveway so steep that our Jeep seemed ready to tumble into sailboat-flecked Fulladoza Bay below. It was far enough away from Dewey, Culebra’s one small town, that peeping coqui frogs provided the only nighttime sounds.

The first night, I turned off the lights and sat on the deck to watch the expansive sky. Two bats swooped under the roof, hunting mosquitoes. I admired my nocturnal companions and the moonlit boats floating in the bay, so involved in my surroundings and the present moment, I didn’t need to be plugged into anything else.

The next morning, we headed down the precarious driveway and through Dewey to the northwestern corner of the island, where a nearly-empty parking lot and a ramshackle concession greeted visitors to Culebra’s most famous landmark: Flamenco Beach.

Flamenco is undeniably gorgeous. It regularly appears on top-global-beaches lists; in February, TripAdvisor rated it the world’s eighth best. Its mile-long white crescent hugs a clear, calm bay. Only the concession and a small hotel interrupt the palm trees flanking the sand. Pelicans and boobies dive into the water.

Even when busloads of weekend day-trippers unload onto Flamenco, there’s room for everyone. During our weekday visit, perhaps a hundred people spread across the sand.

Erin Williams/The Washington PostAn abandoned U.S. military tank rests in the breakers on Culebra’s Flamenco Beach.

At Flamenco’s western end, two old tanks, relics of the military exercises, rest on the beach. One sits on a grassy mound near the sand; another, in breakers under palm trees. Algae adhering to the latter undulates in the waves, and the decaying machinery stands out in absurd contrast against the sky and sand. Graffiti has turned these once-lethal hulks into surreal art installations, a colourful reminder of the island’s controversial past.

Guidebooks mention the trail to Carlos Rosario Beach, but most visitors don’t notice the gate tucked into a shady corner of Flamenco’s parking lot. In my clumsy Spanish, I asked a nearby ranger whether I should be worried about the “Danger” sign. Although some rangers recommend a longer shoreline route that is definitely free of explosives, he responded (in smiling English): “Go right ahead — you will be the first ones at the beach today! It will be hot, so make sure you have plenty of water.”

Beyond the gate, the walk to Carlos Rosario was an easy 20 minutes. Tall grass crowded the well-trodden path, but the only hazards were sunburn, mosquitoes … and perhaps live munitions. So we were careful not to stray into the bushes.

Erin Williams/The Washington PostA rocky trail along a beach on Culebra’s western shore.

As we neared the beach, yellow-flowered trees offered peekaboo panoramas of the sea. I watched the ground, careful not to step on red and purple hermit crabs scuttling across the path. The grass thinned, and we emerged sweaty and muddy from the trees.

We were the only people on the paradisiacal shoreline. In both directions, white sand sparkled in the sun. Green hills plunged into the azure water. With each small wave, pebbles washed up on the beach and tinkled back down.

We walked along the water’s edge, along piles of sun-bleached coral and black rocks, until we found the perfect tree. We laid a couple towels in its shade. Later, a dozen other visitors would join us , but for now, we had our own little piece of the Caribbean.

The next morning, we headed across the island, driving past a wildlife refuge and houses scattered among the hills. At the Zoni Beach entrance, hand-painted signs warned nighttime visitors away from the nesting areas of leatherback and hawksbill sea turtles.

We were alone on the stretch of gentle waves at Culebra’s eastern edge, but I had already arranged for a getaway to an even less-frequented spot. A local outfitter had dropped off a two-person kayak for a self-powered day trip to Culebrita, a one-square-mile island, less than two miles off Culebra, that’s part of the national wildlife refuge. Culebrita Lighthouse, one of the Caribbean’s oldest, crowns its top in decrepit glory.

We climbed into the plastic kayak — a hardy sit-on-top so wide, it looked impossible to capsize. As we paddled out from Zoni, a salt breeze rippled the water. A magenta jellyfish pulsed at its surface. Fish darted under the boat. We glided over reefs, watching corals and sea fans pass beneath the kayak like the islets underneath the plane.

Only a handful of people visit Culebrita each day, and today was no exception. We pulled our boat onto an unclaimed beach fringed with dense trees that climbed the slope to the lighthouse a few hundred feet above, hidden by the foliage. It was an ideal hideaway for a mid-morning siesta. Not another soul was in sight.

On the return to Zoni, the wind strengthened, pushing us toward Culebra. Waves pounded the shore. Lingering in the swells, we waited for a break and paddled for the beach. Then a wave rose under me. I hovered on its crest for one dreadful moment, and the bow surged into the air and plunged into the water. These kayaks aren’t that hard to capsize, I thought as I flew off the boat and the wave crashed over my head.

By the time I stood up, Andrew was already wading toward me.

“You look like you’ve been in a train accident,” he said.

My hair stuck to my face, my rash guard was wadded under my life jacket, my shorts were turned nearly backward and my knees bled. A nearby family, picnicking on the now-populated beach, watched with amusement as I slogged onto the beach and sat down in a sodden but contented heap.

It was an ungraceful tumble back into civilization — and probably good practice for returning to the rough waters of non-Culebra life.

IF YOU GO

Where to stay:Check out VRBO and HomeAway for a list of vacation rentals on Culebra.

Where to eat:
– Mamacita’s Restaurant and Bar: 66 Calle Castelar; 787-742-0090.
Get a seat by the stream at twilight and watch tarpons swim in the water and bats hunt for mosquitoes. Entrees $15-$25.

Seventeen months after my first son was born, my husband and I were itching to go abroad. We love travel and experiencing new cultures. And because we hope to instil that love in our offspring, we decided to bring him along.

Some friends and family were perplexed. “You know he won’t remember it, right?” they asked.

Sure, we knew. But we also knew that what kids experience shapes their brains and futures, whether they remember those experiences or not.

And we knew we’d miss the bugger like crazy if we left him behind.

So we set some parameters. We wanted a spot that was affordable, wouldn’t be a nightmare to fly to with a toddler, had plenty of kid-friendly attractions and would expose him to another language.

Puerto Rico fit the bill.

Amber Hunt via The Associated PressIn this May 23, 2015 photo, 17-month-old Hunt Van Benschoten drinks from a bottle as he stands in the water at a beach in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Our passports are coloured with trips abroad, but we quickly realized we had to toss out all we thought we knew about travelling.

We were no longer a (somewhat) low-maintenance duo, sharing two carry-ons and one checked bag. No, this was a four carry-on, two-checked bag endeavour, plus a gate-checked kid carrier.

Necessities from previous trips — like laptops and pro photo gear — were nixed to make room for baby supplies like swim diapers. For photos and surfing the Web, we used our iPhones.

As with parenting in general, we prepared well on some fronts, but flubbed others altogether.

THINGS WE DID RIGHT

— We brought things to keep the tyke busy on the plane and beyond: books, crayons, paper and even annoying noisemakers we’d cursed relatives for giving us but which ultimately proved invaluable.

— We researched San Juan well enough to know that a stroller would be a pain. We opted instead to bring a hiking-style child carrier. This made our jaunt through the rainforest easy and it was a great conversation-starter with locals. One woman literally stopped traffic to tell us how cool she thought it was.

— We got a two-room suite. It cost $50 more a night and felt strange for me — my first trips abroad were hostel-hopping budget fests. But having two rooms let us keep Hunt on his normal sleep schedule, while letting us talk, read and more between his bedtime and ours.

— We stuck with his nap schedule, too, by tackling one outing in the morning, then returning to the hotel for a noon break before going back out. That limited our itinerary, but we knew skipped naps would be a hell we preferred not to endure.

— We did things that weren’t kid-friendly like San Juan’s historic forts and the Arecibo Observatory, just as we would have without him. We walked miles a day to see how people on the island live, and we shopped at a farmers market. When Hunt got impatient, one of us broke away with him and let the other finish the experience.

Amber Hunt via The Associated PressIn this May 22, 2015 photo, Elijah Van Benschoten carries his 17-month-old son Hunt Van Benschoten while visiting Castillo de San Cristobal in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

THINGS WE DID WRONG

— We broke our don’t-disrupt-the-baby’s-routine rule by booking a late flight on the way home, and, oh, did we pay for it. While we managed to mostly shield fellow travellers from our anguish, my husband ended up with a shiner from a tiny, flailing fist during one particularly potent tantrum.

— We didn’t ask the hotel about noisy scheduled events. Big mistake. We loved our hotel, but didn’t love the bar-style thumping on our second night.

— We occasionally expected our toddler not to be a toddler. We never overtly lost our cool when, say, Hunt threw himself on the ground for no apparent reason as we went to show him his first view of the ocean, but we did catch ourselves snapping at each other from the stress. What it taught us: Time-outs are good for adults, too.

But once he reached that beach, his eyes widened, his jaw dropped and he was more ecstatic than I’d ever seen him. He rushed to the water’s edge and stopped to let the waves lap his little feet, then reached willingly – for the first time ever – for my hand to guide him. I’d been studying Spanish for the trip, so when another little boy approached with toys, I was able to ask in Spanish if my son could play with him. The two played in the sand with no language barrier — toddlers don’t need words to understand meaning.

I don’t know if the trip was as good for Hunt as I’d hoped. But one thing is certain: It was good for me.

On the surface, there was nothing shocking about Monday’s decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit to strike down a Puerto Rico law that would’ve let the commonwealth’s municipalities and utilities declare bankruptcy. A federal district court had already held in February that Puerto Rico’s proposed Recovery Act was pre-empted by the federal bankruptcy code.

But from a long-term perspective, the court’s decision was fairly extraordinary. Over an outraged concurrence by Judge Juan Torruella — the only Puerto Rican on the federal appeals court that’s responsible for cases from the island — the court held that Puerto Rico is uniquely legally disabled from managing its financial problems.

Every state in the union has the right to put its municipalities into bankruptcy under Chapter 9 of the bankruptcy code; Puerto Rico does not. Torruella said that asymmetry was arbitrary and unconstitutional.

The court offered no explanation or justification for why Puerto Rico should be treated differently from the states; it just told Puerto Rico that it would have to ask Congress to change that state of affairs. But as Torruella pointed out, that recommendation was fairly “preposterous” given that Puerto Rico isn’t represented by a voting member in Congress. The whole thing, he argued — with some reason — amounts to “business as usual colonial treatment” of the commonwealth.

The judge’s implication was clear: Congress was favouring Puerto Rico’s creditors for no better reason than that Puerto Rico has no representation of its own. By extension, the island’s debt crisis is a product of its colonial status.

From 1933 until 1984, Puerto Rico could allow its municipalities to declare bankruptcy under Chapter 9 the same way the 50 states could, by first getting permission from their states. This is a useful tool for cities or other state authorities, such as utilities, that get into economic trouble.

In 1984, Congress, when amending the bankruptcy code, added a provision saying that Puerto Rico would count as a state for every purpose except for allowing its municipalities to invoke Chapter 9.

Thirty years later, in June 2014, Puerto Rico, facing a huge — and continuing — debt crisis, tried to do something about it. Its legislature passed the Recovery Act, which would have enabled its troubled utilities to declare bankruptcy under Puerto Rico law. The stakes were high. The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority alone has at least $9 billion in debt, now rated CC by Standard and Poor’s. That’s a significant chunk of the $73 billion Puerto Rico owes more generally — and other utilities are struggling, too.

The court held that Puerto Rico lacked the authority to pass the new law. Its core reasoning was that the point of federal bankruptcy law is to create uniform norms across the U.S. To that end, the law pre-empts states from passing their own conflicting bankruptcy codes. Puerto Rico’s proposed Recovery Act conflicted with that uniformity, not only in its specific provisions but also in its very existence.

But if you think about it, there’s something perverse about striking down Puerto Rico’s law because it undermines uniformity. After all, the whole reason Puerto Rico needed to enact the law was that federal bankruptcy law doesn’t treat Puerto Rico uniformly when it comes to Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy.

Torruella had to admit that, as the doctrine of pre-emption is ordinarily understood, Puerto Rico lacks the authority to enact its own bankruptcy rules. That’s why he filed a concurrence, not a dissent. But the judge went on to say that the true problem was the 1984 law that took away Puerto Rico’s right to use Chapter 9.

One element of his argument was that the Constitution gives Congress the authority to enact “uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States.” In its original context, one would think, the provision meant that Congress couldn’t enact different bankruptcy regimes for different parts of the country.

The only possible textual response is that Puerto Rico isn’t part of the U.S. But that raises the imponderably complex question of what Puerto Rico’s constitutional status actually is. For some purposes, the law treats it as part of the U.S. — why not for purposes of the bankruptcy clause?

Torruella’s next argument was that, under existing Supreme Court precedent, Congress may legislate differently for Puerto Rico provided that it has a rational basis to do so. The judge strenuously maintained that there was no plausible rational reason to deny Puerto Rico access to Chapter 9 bankruptcy. The 1984 exclusion was, he said, “arbitrary.”

The judge reserved his greatest scorn for the majority’s suggestion that Puerto Rico go to Congress for a fix. The court, he said, was implicitly approving “a colonial relationship, one which violates our Constitution and the Law of the Land as established in ratified treaties.”

It’s conceivable that Congress may help. Representative Tom Marino said Tuesday that he wanted to advance the needed legislation. Hillary Clinton, on the campaign trail in Iowa, proposed allowing Puerto Rico to invoke Chapter 9, a position Jeb Bush has also supported. But regardless, the judge isn’t wrong. Puerto Rico shouldn’t have a harder time dealing with its debt than do the 50 states.

Noah Feldman is a professor of constitutional and international law at Harvard and the author of six books, most recently “Cool War: The Future of Global Competition.”

Puerto Rico doesn’t need lessons from anyone in creating a financial disaster zone for itself. The Caribbean island — about the same size as Jamaica, located just east of the Dominican Republic – has 3.5 million people and US$73 billion in debt. On a per capita basis, that’s not much less than the amount owed by Greece to official creditors. But Puerto Rico is a territory of the U.S., and Washington says it has no plans to offer a bailout.

While Greece has seized international attention, mainly because of the damage it could do to the Eurozone and the fate of its currency, the Euro, Puerto Rico struggles along largely unnoticed. The island’s governor, Alejandro Garcia Padilla, said Monday the debt is unpayable and he wants creditors to give the island more breathing room. It did manage to make a $1.9 billion instalment payment due on Wednesday – bigger than the sum that pushed Greece over the edge into default – but did so only by getting a new loan to help pay off the old one, and it came with a lifeline that expires again in September. It’s like a gerbil on one of those endless wheels, running constantly just to stay in the same place, getting nowhere fast while exhausting itself in the process.

“We have to fix the fiscal situation in order to grow the economy, but we need to grow the economy in order to fix the fiscal situation,” Sergio Marxuach, policy director at a Puerto Rico-based think tank told the Associated Press.

To its credit, Puerto Rico is at least trying. While Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras storms out of meetings, accuses Europe of humiliating his country and has ceded the decision he was elected to make – whether or not to accept European terms for an extended bailout – to a national referendum, Puerto Rican authorities have accepted a series of stinging cutbacks as they try to claw their way to financial health.

In May it introduced strict water rationing, limiting the 160,000 residents of the capital, San Juan, to water every other day, and warning it could go dry for up to 36 hours at a time. Some 150 of its 1,400 schools have been closed, with 600 others endangered. Close to half the population is said to live in poverty, the health system is collapsing and hundreds of doctors have left for better prospects. The economy has been shrinking for nine years in a row. This week the sales tax was raised to 11.5%, highest in the U.S.

The doctors are just one part of a flood of emigration as tens of thousands of islanders flee to the U.S. Although it is not a full-fledged state, Puerto Ricans are American citizens. Six out of ten Puerto Ricans already live in the U.S., and by 2020 the figure could pass two-thirds according to estimates. Unlike the mass migration of the 1950s and 60s, which focused on New York, most Puerto Ricans today head for Florida, in an odd way recreating the decades-long flight of Cubans to neighbourhoods in Miami. But while President Barack Obama ended the embargo against Cuba and announced this week that full diplomatic relations would be restored, Washington has shown little eagerness to help out fellow Americans.

Easy borrowing terms and ready benefits helped lure the island into its state of collapse. Like Greece it has no currency of its own; unlike Athens, which can quit the Euro if it wishes, Puerto Rico uses the US dollar and can’t give it up (not that it would want to.) Since it lacks statehood, it can’t declare bankruptcy and seek a restructuring as happened in Detroit. Congress could end that restriction, but Republicans in Congress are opposed and Obama has shown no interest in challenging them.

So Puerto Rico is stuck, perhaps even more so than Greece, since it lacks even Athens’s limited leverage. A collapse in San Juan wouldn’t shake the U.S. as one in Athens would shake Europe.

“There’s no one in the administration or in D.C. that’s contemplating a federal bailout of Puerto Rico,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Monday. The Obama administration is willing to “(work) with Puerto Rico and their leaders as they address the serious challenges.” Which basically means: you made the mess, you clean it up.

1. Hey, Puerto Rico’s broke too, you know

Ricardo Arduengo / The Associated PressOld San Juan, Puerto Rico

While everyone is obsessing over Greece, no one has been paying attention to poor Puerto Rico, which was also expected to default on its debts Wednesday and now faces a harsh austerity regime as it tries to repay $73 billion it doesn’t have. Puerto Rico is an “unincorporated U.S. Territory” and Washington has no intention of bailing it out. Instead the island is introducing an 11.5% sales tax, closing hundreds of schools and perhaps reducing the minimum wage. I know, I know … Canada is all about RAISING minimum wages because that’s going to cure poverty, but a report commissioned by Puerto Rico’s government recommended it be cut, along with medical and other entitlements. It also urged that union power be reduced and the size of government reduced.

2. New Zealand says no to bullying

REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen New Zealand says no to bullying, even against rugby fans who dress up like this

New Zealand has passed a law against cyber-bullying, called the the Harmful Digital Communications Bill. It outlaws online communications that cause “serious emotional distress” and imposes penalties that start with “negotiation, mediation or persuasion” before escalating to hefty fines or up to two years in jail. The ban includes posting messages deemed racist, sexist, or demonstrating religious intolerance, along with those targeting disability or sexual orientation, or which incite suicide.

3. Four boats, two cardboard boxes

MAHMUD HAMS/AFP/Getty ImagesGaza in ruins

A group calling themselves the Freedom Flotilla Coalition sent four boats to Gaza hoping to break through israel’s blockade. The group claimed the boats were delivering “humanitarian aid.” Israel said there was no aid on board and it was just a bunch of activists looking for publicity. Challenged to demonstrate the “aid”, the activists sent a picture of two cardboard boxes. Apparently there was a solar panel in one, donated by a Swedish magazine, and a “nebulizer” in the other, used to calm asthma attacks. They could easily have been shipped by legitimate means, but it’s so much more fun to portray yourself as a campaigner against oppression and float around uselessly in the Mediterranean until an Israel naval boat tells you to get lost.

4. One too many Crosbies for Newfoundland

John Crosbie is “disgusted” that his son was rejected by the Conservatives as a candidate in Newfoundland. “If it wasn’t for my age — I’m 84 — I’d bloody-well put my hat in the ring in the next couple of weeks. I’d run myself… I’m tempted to do that,” Crosbie raged. It’s not clear why Ches Crosbie was rejected, except that he’s “not the type of candidate” the party was seeking, even though he was the only one seeking the nomination. He’s a lawyer – are lawyers now considered unsuitable as candidates?

5. Pricey booze is scourge of crime

Mark van Manen / Postmedia News

Every time B.C. jacks up the price of booze, the rate of crime goes down, according to a study in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. It says that when prices for the cheapest alcohol increased by 10 per cent, B.C. saw an 18.81-per-cent drop in drunk-driving related incidents and a 9.17-per-cent decrease in all crimes against people, including offences like murder, assault and robbery. The authors claim it’s more evidence that cheap booze is a key element in hospital admissions, accidents and crime. (Was that a matter of some doubt?)

6. Leafs get better by unloading best player

Christian Petersen/Getty ImagesPhil Kessel: even traffic will be smoother now that he's gone

The Toronto Maple Leafs finally “improved” their roster by trading away their best player. Now they will be a much better team. Before they had a player who reliably scored 25-40 goals a year. Now they don’t. Before they had one proven offensive star. Now they don’t. Phil Kessel, who was viewed as a detriment because he acted sulky in public and didn’t like to chat with the press, is now being called a “talented sniper” and “pure goal scorer” who is just the winger Sidney Crosby always wanted. Good thing the Leafs got better by trading him to a more talented team. (In return they get a draft pick, which isn’t worth a lot given that the Penguins usually finish high in the standings and therefore pick near the end.)

When I landed in San Juan, Puerto Rico, it was a hot Saturday afternoon. The sort of sticky weather that makes people happy and lethargic. After a few hours spent on the beach trying to shake off a tepid Toronto spring, I wandered up from my waterfront hotel in Santurce to the Plaza del Mercado, a small square in front of an indoor farmers’ market that’s surrounded by bars and restaurants, and stumbled upon a community happy hour. Kids chased each other around the square as their parents and grandparents gathered around tables, ordering pitchers of drinks from the surrounding bar stalls, and basking in weekend leisure time.

Related

Everything being poured looked chilled and refreshing, so I followed suit. Despite my Spanish being no bueno, I strung together enough words to order a lime soda, then sat on the steps of the square and enjoyed both the scene and the drink. But if I’d known then what I know now, I would’ve ordered a piña colada.

“Most tourists don’t know that the piña colada is from Puerto Rico,” says Rafael Lebron, senior manager of food and beverage at the Caribe Hilton. “That’s part of what our bartenders do — they have to educate the guests.”

The folks at the Caribe Hilton are particularly invested in this education because, in 1954, bartender Ramón “Monchito” Marrero created the drink at the bar here (then it was called the Beachcomber Bar, now it’s the Caribar). Tasked with creating “a tropical drink,” Lebron says, Marrero blended pineapple juice, cream of coconut and rum for a sweet concoction that pairs with palm trees and a beach chair overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

Or did he? Because across town, in Old San Juan, there’s another story. “It’s a debate in Puerto Rico,” Lebron admits.

William Mevs, whose family has owned the restaurant Barrachina for almost 50 years after buying it from the original owner, insists that his establishment is the home of the piña colada. “I know the stories say it was created at the Hilton, but it’s not in contention,” Mevs says. “I don’t know why they insist on claiming it.”

As far as Mevs is concerned, it was a bartender at Barrachina who first blended the drink in the 1960s. “Most taste like coconut, but our piña colada tastes more like pineapple,” he says. The restaurant, which spans the length of a block, serves between 3,000 to 4,000 piña coladas a month, due in part to the establishment’s legacy and to thirsty cruise ship passengers who walk over from the nearby port.

While Lebron and Mevs may dispute the origins of the drink, they both agree that local ingredients are essential to maintaining its purity — starting with Puerto Rican rum, the production of which must meet government-set standards before it can be bottled and sold as the real deal.

Incidentally, William Ramos, brand master at Bacardi, maker of many a rum, says that the invention of cream of coconut in 1954 by Ramon Lopez Irizarry, an agricultural professor, probably helped propel this drink to fame. “He combined the heart of the coconut with cane sugar and created the cream that is used in the modern version of the piña colada,” Ramos explains. I don’t want to take sides, but this timing supports the Caribe Hilton’s claim.

Whichever version or location you prefer, the piña colada’s chilled, sweet flavours appeal to many, but not to all. Most of those would be tourists.

Do Puerto Ricans drink piña coladas? “I like it, but it’s not the drink I want all the time,” says Lebron. Mevs says a lot of Puerto Ricans drink it, but “personally, I don’t. It’s very high in calories and it’s very sweet. And I don’t drink rum that much.” And Ramos? “The Puerto Rican version is a bit too sweet for my palate. It’s also extremely high in calories,” he says.

This may be why the drink is evolving on the island. Bacardi has developed a recipe for a True Original version, which substitutes coconut water for cream of coconut. “Coconut water helps you hydrate, and it has less sugar than cream of coconut,” Ramos says. At the Caribe Hilton, there are four versions available to thirsty guests. One uses a different rum than the original, another adds mango and passion fruit juice to the drink. And like Bacardi’s True Original, the hotel’s Clear Colada blends coconut water instead of cream of coconut.

So even with this one drink, there’s enough variety on the island to keep you hydrated and coming back for more, especially on those hot and lazy afternoons.

New York City has several neighbourhoods that could be classified as Little Puerto Rico, many located in Brooklyn, so it’s only fair that San Juan, Puerto Rico, has a few areas that could be called Little Brooklyn, most of which are located in Santurce.

The barrio has 44 neighbourhoods inside it and is home to 90,000 Puerto Ricans. In the 1940s and ’50s it was hopping, a hub of cultural vibrancy and home to, among other things, the city’s salsa community. In the ’70s and ’80s, people started vacating for the suburbs, and vacancies and crime went up. But the 2000s have seen reinvestment in the area, with leadership and financing coming from multiple levels of government. A priority was placed on mixed-income housing, cultural reinvestment and neighbourhood initiatives, which could only mean one thing: Hipsters moved in.

They are in La Placita, Calle Loíza and Barrada 23, among other places. And with them delectable restaurants, craft cocktail bars, vibrant street art and creative fashion. I got a taste when born-and-bred, flag-waving Santurce resident Melanie Daniels, who recently launched tour company Puerto Rico & Co., pointed out Barrada 23’s Libros AC, an editorial imprint turned bookshop, bar and bistro, then led me across Ponce de Leon Avenue to get a closer look at some street art, a twentysomething hipster skateboarded by, pushing and kicking with neon pink and pastel blue high-tops.

Related

Santurce’s renaissance, led by the 20-, 30-, and 40-somethings who want to show off their home turf, is exciting and still relatively new. As I killed time between leaving my name at the door and taking a seat for my reservation at José Enrique, the eponymous and ridiculously delicious restaurant of local chef and James Beard Foundation semifinalist, I strolled La Placita. In the convivial square in front of the farmers’ market, families ate, drank and socialized. A few blocks away, there was fresh evidence of car windows being smashed. Full-scale gentrification is a way off, but the signs are there.
On Calle Loíza, for instance, within about eight blocks, there are vintage shops (Electro Shock, Len.T.juela); a shipping container turned taco stand (Tresbe), an empty lot turned outdoor cinema (Cinema Paradiso), plus juice bars, food trucks, and other foodie signs on revitalization.

Calle Carre, about three kilometres to the west, is dotted with small, independent art galleries, and the street itself is an open-air exhibit of urban art. On the corner of Carre and Calle Aurora, a former parklet turned ad hoc garbage dump has been transformed for the better thanks to street art. Sundays and Mondays it’s a ghost town, albeit a colourful, graffitied one, but the area draws a crowd during the rest of the week. The hub: El Departamento de la Comida, a farmers’ market/craft fair/food stand gathering. Daniels told me that the transformation in this particular part of town has happened over four years. Before then, people were scared to come to the neighbourhood; now, it’s a
destination.

The best part about this urban revival: Based at the San Juan Marriott in Condado, a well-to-do part of Santurce that’s home to a handful of beachfront hotels, I was able to reach all of these areas on foot — Calle Loíza is 15 minutes away, La Placita 20 minutes. And the hotel has bikes available for those who’d rather be on two wheels.
It’s a wondrous thing to see a city while it’s in the midst of reinventing itself. To be able to see it by walking only a couple kilometres from your beach lounger? That’s lucky.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A Puerto Rico police officer assigned to protect the U.S. territory’s governor has accidentally run over two American tourists, authorities said Friday.

Police said agent Orlando Rodriguez hit the elderly couple with a Harley Davidson motorcycle late Thursday as they crossed a poorly lit street in the capital of San Juan. Authorities identified the couple as 78-year-old Robert Hedley and 64-year-old Harriet Power from Pennsylvania. Their hometown was not immediately known.

Officers said Hardley has a hip fracture and his wife a pelvis fracture. Both also have head injuries but are expected to recover.

Jorge Hernandez, director of the police department’s traffic division, said Rodriguez apparently swerved to avoid the couple but that they ran in the same direction as well. Hernandez said the couple arrived in Puerto Rico on Christmas Eve.

Puerto Rico, a 160 by 56 kilometre island with a population of over 3.6 million, calls itself the culinary capital of the Caribbean. They recently showcased their talented chefs at Saborea Puerto Rico: A Culinary Extravaganza which celebrated its 7th edition this April 4 – 6. While this foodie party on El Escambrón Beach (dozens of local restaurants dish up in the Tasting Pavilion) is fun, I’d say go straight to the restaurants of the top chefs in San Juan.

Chef José Santaella, author of Cocina Tropical cookbook, opened his Santaella restaurant near a local farmers market known as La Placita. The vibe is hip, the cocktails wicked and the food which is contemporary and classic Puerto Rican is delicious: namely marinated Ahi tuna skewers, morcilla (black pudding) curlers with spicy dip, baby octopus casserole with chorizo, root vegetable fritters and pork au gratin.

Chef Roberto Treviño has five highly successful spots. His Budatai eatery in Condado area expertly combines Asian with Latin flavours. Bar Gitano is an eclectic Spanish tapas spot, El Barril is an upscale bar, Casa Lola is his ode to traditional Puerto Rican and his fifth restaurant Rosa Mexicano just opened. Chef Wilo Benet, author of bestseller Puerto Rico True Flavours has his upscale Pikayo restaurant in the Condado Hilton. He melds traditional ingredients with French and Asian influences such as foie gras on ripe plantain and coconut milk polenta with beef brisket stew. Many of the best are part of Puerto Rico restaurant week May 14 – 20. www.prrestaurantweek.com

Related

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/life/forks-the-road-root-veggie-fritters-and-baby-octopus-casserole-in-puerto-rico-2/feed0stdSyrian soldiers who defected to join the Free Syrian Army are seen among demonstrators during a protest against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Idlib in this handout picture received January 31, 2012.Forks & The Road: Root veggie fritters and baby octopus casserole in Puerto Ricohttp://news.nationalpost.com/life/forks-the-road-root-veggie-fritters-and-baby-octopus-casserole-in-puerto-rico
http://news.nationalpost.com/life/forks-the-road-root-veggie-fritters-and-baby-octopus-casserole-in-puerto-rico#respondWed, 09 Apr 2014 14:32:51 +0000http://life.nationalpost.com/?p=135639

Puerto Rico, a 160 by 56 kilometre island with a population of over 3.6 million, calls itself the culinary capital of the Caribbean. They recently showcased their talented chefs at Saborea Puerto Rico: A Culinary Extravaganza which celebrated its 7th edition this April 4 – 6. While this foodie party on El Escambrón Beach (dozens of local restaurants dish up in the Tasting Pavilion) is fun, I’d say go straight to the restaurants of the top chefs in San Juan.

Chef José Santaella, author of Cocina Tropical cookbook, opened his Santaella restaurant near a local farmers market known as La Placita. The vibe is hip, the cocktails wicked and the food which is contemporary and classic Puerto Rican is delicious: namely marinated Ahi tuna skewers, morcilla (black pudding) curlers with spicy dip, baby octopus casserole with chorizo, root vegetable fritters and pork au gratin.

Chef Roberto Treviño has five highly successful spots. His Budatai eatery in Condado area expertly combines Asian with Latin flavours. Bar Gitano is an eclectic Spanish tapas spot, El Barril is an upscale bar, Casa Lola is his ode to traditional Puerto Rican and his fifth restaurant Rosa Mexicano just opened. Chef Wilo Benet, author of bestseller Puerto Rico True Flavours has his upscale Pikayo restaurant in the Condado Hilton. He melds traditional ingredients with French and Asian influences such as foie gras on ripe plantain and coconut milk polenta with beef brisket stew. Many of the best are part of Puerto Rico restaurant week May 14 – 20. www.prrestaurantweek.com

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/life/travel/montreal-to-san-juan-puerto-rico-240-roundtrip-after-taxes/feed0stdPuerto RicoY_18x18Kelly McParland: If you were Puerto Rico, would you want to become America's 51st state?http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/kelly-mcparland-if-you-were-puerto-rico-would-you-want-to-become-americas-51st-state
http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/kelly-mcparland-if-you-were-puerto-rico-would-you-want-to-become-americas-51st-state#respondFri, 09 Nov 2012 14:05:48 +0000http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/?p=96749

I knew next to nothing about Puerto Rico until I read that a vote on Tuesday found 61% in favour of seeking U.S. statehood. President Barack Obama had already pledged he would be guided by the will of the islanders. If he keeps his word and Congress goes along, the island could now begin the process to becoming the 51st state. Maybe.

Naturally, it’s complicated. But it would seem natural that a majority would want something other than the existing status, which is a pretty poor deal. Puerto Rico has been a territory of the United States since the Spanish-American War in 1898. Since 1917 Puerto Ricans have been American citizens. They pay most (but not all) U.S. federal taxes, and contributed $3.7 billion to the Treasury in 2009, more than Vermont. Since 1992 all U.S. departments and agencies have been required to treat the island like a state on an administrative basis. They use U.S. currency and carry U.S. passports and serve in the U.S. military. Yet they can’t vote for president, have no Senate representative and only limited representation in the House of Representatives. The benefits they get are less than they would get as a state. Both U.S. parties hold primaries and bring Puerto Rican delegates to their nomination meetings, but once a nominee is selected they’re not allowed to cast a ballot in the resulting campaign.

What kind of deal is that? Wasn’t there a revolution or something in the U.S. over the notion of “no taxation without representation?”

The complication is that the islanders can’t agree among themselves on what to do about it. The vote held on Tuesday was weakened by the fact it was a two-part question, and the results were less than conclusive despite the numbers in favour of statehood. The first part of the ballot asked islanders whether they preferred the status quo, or a change in the relationship. More than half — 54% – said they wanted a change. Given three choices – statehood, independence or “sovereign free association” (which sounds a lot like Quebec’s convoluted sovereignty-association) – 61% opted for statehood. Independence was a distant third. But 500,000 people who answered the first question didn’t answer the second, making it unclear which option they would prefer. It’s pretty clear Puerto Ricans don’t want the status quo, but haven’t quite decided on an alternative.

Both sides – pro-statehood and anti-statehood – now claim the results back their position. The Puerto Rican governor supports statehood, but was voted out of office Tuesday and will be replaced by a new governor who favours “sovereign free association.” Presumably that would entail greater benefits than the island has now, but something less then full statehood.

How Congress would react to an application for full statehood would be intriguing. Despite its attraction as a tourist destination and its location in the sunny Caribbean – bracketed between the Dominican Republic and the British Virgin Islands – it’s hardly a tropical paradise. According to the Associated Press, unemployment is 13.6%, higher than any state, and there were 1,117 killings last year. And statehood, it says, would involve sending an extra $20 billion in federal funds.

Still, one of the dominant themes of the post-election autopsy has been the desperate need for Republicans to make inroads into the burgeoning Hispanic population in the U.S., which voted overwhelmingly for Barack Obama. Embracing Puerto Rico might go a long way to starting that task. Opposing statehood, on the other hand, would only cement its image as the anti-immigrant Party of No, which saw its base of support Tuesday reduced largely to a bastion of white males.

First, of course, Puerto Ricans have to clarify their future in their own minds.

“We don’t want to continue being a colony. We want the full rights that we’re entitled to as American citizens,” said Thomas Rivera Schatz, president of the territory’s local Senate. “Because we’re a colony, we have the misfortune of being first (in line) for federal cuts and last in line for handouts.”

Makes sense to me. Now he just has to convince the rest of the island.

National Post

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/kelly-mcparland-if-you-were-puerto-rico-would-you-want-to-become-americas-51st-state/feed0stdSupporters of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party wave flags after casting their vote to elect the local government and participate in their fourth political status plebiscite in San JuanPuerto Rico vote first step in making island 51st U.S. statehttp://news.nationalpost.com/news/puerto-rico-vote-first-step-in-making-island-51st-u-s-state
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/puerto-rico-vote-first-step-in-making-island-51st-u-s-state#commentsWed, 07 Nov 2012 09:59:24 +0000http://news.nationalpost.com/?p=230683

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Puerto Ricans faced a fundamental question on Election Day: Should they change their ties with the United States?

Citizens in the U.S. island territory cannot vote in the U.S. presidential election, but many were excited to participate in a referendum on whether to push the territory toward statehood, greater autonomy or independence.

Car horns blared and party flags waved after polling stations closed following what election officials said was a high voter turnout. During the day, many voters carried umbrellas against the blistering tropical sun as temperatures neared 90 degrees Fahrenheit (31 degrees Celsius).

Related

The two-part referendum first asked voters if they wanted to change Puerto Rico’s 114-year relationship with the United States. A second question gave voters three alternatives if they wanted a change: become a U.S. state, gain independence, or have a “sovereign free association,” a designation that would give more autonomy for the territory of 4 million people.

With 243 of 1,643 precincts reporting late Tuesday, 75,188 voters, or 53%, said they did not want to continue under the current political status. Forty-seven percent, or 67,304 voters, supported the status quo.

On the second question, 65% favored statehood, followed by 31% for sovereign free association and 4% for independence.

“Puerto Rico has to be a state. There is no other option,” said 25-year-old Jerome Lefebre, who picked up his grandfather before driving to the polls. “We’re doing OK, but we could do better. We would receive more benefits, a lot more financial help.”

But 42-year-old Ramon Lopez de Azua said he favored the current system, which grants U.S. citizenship but prevents Puerto Ricans from voting for president unless they live in the United States, and gives those on the island only limited representation in Congress.

“Puerto Rico’s problem is not its political status,” he said. “I think that the United States is the best country in the world, but I am Puerto Rican first.”

Both President Barack Obama and rival Mitt Romney said they supported the referendum, with Obama pledging to respect the will of the people if there was a clear majority. Any change would require approval by the U.S. Congress.

Puerto Rico held non-binding referendums in 1967, 1993 and 1998, with statehood never garnering a clear majority and independence never obtaining more than 5% of the vote.

The island also was electing legislators and a governor, with Gov. Luis Fortuno of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party seeking a second term. Fortuno, a Republican, was challenged by Alejandro Garcia Padilla, whose Popular Democratic Party favors the status quo. With 817 of 1,643 precincts reporting late Tuesday, Garcia had 427,604 votes, or 48%, while Fortuno had 422,506 votes, or 47%.

SAN JUAN — Republican presidential nomination hopeful Mitt Romney swept to a big win in his party’s primary in Puerto Rico on Sunday, bolstering his position as front-runner in the race to decide who will face Democratic President Barack Obama in the November 6 election.

With about 60 percent of the ballots counted, Romney had about 83% of the vote, according to Puerto Rico’s electoral commission. Rick Santorum was in second place with just under 8 percent.

Related

At a town hall meeting in Vernon Hills, Illinois, the former Massachusetts governor said his “extraordinary victory” signaled that Republicans can tap into broad-based support in the Hispanic community.

“Those people who don’t think Latinos will vote for a Republican need to take a look at Puerto Rico,” he said.

“I intend to become our nominee, and I intend to get Latino voters to vote for a Republican and take back the White House,” he added.

Romney has a big lead in support from party delegates, whose backing is needed to win the nomination. But he faces a growing challenge from Santorum in Illinois, which holds its primary contest on Tuesday.

The Illinois vote is the next big hurdle in the months-long fight to win the 1,144 delegates needed to seal the Republican nomination.

Santorum, a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, had posed an early potential threat to Romney in Puerto Rico, since his Catholicism and social conservatism were seen resonating among some voters in the predominantly Roman Catholic territory.

But Romney’s campaign was endorsed by just about every prominent Republican on the Spanish-speaking Caribbean island, and Santorum angered many Puerto Ricans with comments last week that they needed to make English their primary language if they wanted to pursue statehood over their current status as a self-governing U.S. commonwealth.

“You can’t impose English on people. My sense is that he [Santorum] was very poorly advised or he would not have said what he said,” Ana Lydia Porrata-Doria, 69, who voted for Romney, told Reuters.

Puerto Ricans, who recognize both English and Spanish as their official languages, will vote in November in a statehood referendum.

With Puerto Rico’s unemployment rate running at 15.1%, many voters said they supported Romney because they believed he was best positioned among the Republican candidates to deliver on pledges about job creation on the island.

Puerto Rico, about 1,200 miles from the U.S. mainland, has about 3.8 million people. Its population can vote in partisan primaries but not in presidential elections. Puerto Ricans within the United States have the same voting rights as other U.S. citizens.

Congress would have to give approval for Puerto Rico to become the 51st state. Although U.S. lawmakers have considered various proposals to make English the official U.S. language, none has ever passed.

Romney’s win on Sunday was part of a carefully planned “island strategy,” which has included wins in Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and U.S. Virgin Islands, to blunt the impact of losses to Santorum in some recent contests.

SAN JUAN — Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum told Puerto Ricans on Wednesday they would have to make English their primary language if they want to pursue U.S. statehood, a statement at odds with the U.S. Constitution.

Santorum traveled to the U.S. territory to campaign ahead of the island’s Republican primary election scheduled for Sunday, where he, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich are vying for 20 delegates.

Puerto Ricans, who recognize both English and Spanish as their official languages, are scheduled to vote in November on a referendum to decide whether they want to pursue statehood or remain a self-governing U.S. commonwealth.

Related

In an interview with El Vocero newspaper, Santorum said he supported Puerto Ricans’ right to self-determination regarding the island’s political status.

“We need to work together and determine what type of relationship we want to develop,” he told the newspaper.

But Santorum said he did not support a state in which English was not the primary language.

“Like any other state, there has to be compliance with this and any other federal law,” Santorum said. “And that is that English has to be the principal language. There are other states with more than one language such as Hawaii but to be a state of the United States, English has to be the principal language.”

However, the U.S. Constitution does not designate an official language, nor is there a requirement that a territory adopt English as its primary language in order to become a state.

Congress would have to give approval if Puerto Rico is to become the 51st state. Although Congress has considered numerous proposals to make English the official U.S. language, none has ever passed.

However, some states have passed their own laws declaring English the official language, including heavily Hispanic Florida.

Puerto Rico has about 4 million people and its population can vote in partisan primaries but not presidential elections. Puerto Ricans on the mainland have the same voting rights as other U.S. citizens.

Santorum’s statement may fall flat with Puerto Rican Republicans, who have always argued that issues of language and culture should be controlled by state governments and not the federal government.

It also could alienate the 4.2 million Puerto Ricans who live on the U.S. mainland, including nearly 1 million in presidential swing-state Florida.

Romney and Gingrich have both said Puerto Ricans must decide their future for themselves. Romney has said that if they choose to pursue statehood, he would help them achieve it.

Romney, who is scheduled to travel to Puerto Rico on Friday and stay through the weekend, won the endorsement of Governor Luis Fortuno, who is also the head of Puerto Rico’s pro-statehood New Progressive Party.

Santorum was to meet with Fortuno on Wednesday before a town hall meeting with residents.

He said he and Fortuno are friends because they went to the same church in Washington when Fortuno served as Puerto Rico’s non-voting representative in the U.S. Congress from 2004-2008.

Santorum also said that he does not support “at this time” allowing residents in territories like Puerto Rico to vote for president, although he said he was open to analyzing alternatives, such as allowing their votes to count in the popular vote but not in the Electoral College.

Gingrich will send his daughter, Kathy Gingrich Lubbers, to campaign on his behalf in Puerto Rico on Thursday and Friday. She is fluent in Spanish and was expected to hold a town-hall style meeting.